Category: Friends

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A Blue-Green Afternoon at Work

I have not taken a single course in either La Salle or Ateneo.

But being surrounded by family members who have gone through Jesuit education, it can’t be helped that I would be swept up into the fierce rivalry between these 2 schools most especially during the UAAP.

My brother-in-law used to be the captain of the cheer squad of the BLUE team during his time so naturally, my sister and all their kids often went to the games, knew all the cheers, and screamed till their lungs gave out. In my immediate family, C1 and C2 now study in the blue school and their siblings are in other Jesuit schools. My world is BLUE!

Yesterday, at work, this long-time school rivalry once again came to the fore. Some people came to work in their school colors. I decided to join in and donned a blue and white striped blouse over navy blue slacks. Thanks to Lito, my kumpadre and our techy savvy IT guy, who provided us with this site that gives live UAAP score updates, many of us were able to continue working on our desks and still keep updated on the minute-by-minute scores.

But of course, nothing beats watching it live. Thank goodness, this office had a large TV in one conference room. During the last 4 minutes, people began drifting into the conference room and yeys/aaarghs echoed. When Chris Tiu faked a 3-pointer and dribbled past the defense to score a basket, advancing Ateneo 65-64 with only 7.3 seconds to spare, I knew we had a chance. The desperate 3-point try of La Salle in those closing seconds failed, now forcing another game.

The aftermath of it all was just as great. One of the consultants ordered 3 large Yellow Cab pizzas for everyone still around past 6pm and the camaraderie continued in the board room with people recounting those precious moments.

And thanks to a true-blue guy called bleachersking, here is a quick video of those remarkable seconds — straight from the BLUE corner!!!!

So it will be SUDDEN DEATH on Sunday, Sept. 30, 2pm. Forecasters say there may be as many as 20,000 paying patrons who will troop to Araneta on this day. I think C2 herself is trying to get tickets and was asking me if I wanted to go. Should I? Haaaay, I think my heart will not last that long. I think I will just stay home and shriek to my heart’s content in the comfort of my bedroom.

ONE BIG FIGHT!!!!

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Too Young to Die

Our daughter C1 came up to me last night and asked, “Mom, what is WRONG with our batch?”

Last night, they got the news that a boy, just in Manila for a short vacation from studies in the USA (and her date/good friend at Sophomore Night some years back) passed away. They had just met up 2 weeks ago upon his return; they YM each other across the miles. It is not just that he died so young, or that his death was unexpected. But since the start of this school year, this was already the 4th death — SAME BATCH, SAME SCHOOL!

At the start of school, a tragic fire ended the life of a boy from batch 2006 which included his mother and younger brother. Another boy died when robbers entered their home and shot him. The last death was that of another of their batch who was coming home with friends from Libis. A taxi came out from nowhere, causing their vehicle to turn turtle and he was the only one who perished. Now this.

At this age, my daughter has been exposed to death with her grandfather’s (my Dad) passing away. But to have to deal with the deaths of young people she knew is something else and I personally do not know what kind of coping is necessary when this happens. On top of that are the statistical odds of these deaths happening to just one batch of boys from the same school. C1 was beginning to think it had something to do with their batch being born in the year of the dragon (that is her Chinese mind working….).

I am open to suggestions. If you were in my shoes, how would you support your daughter who grieves for a young friend and whose only outlet for it so far is pouring her heart out in her writings?

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2 Decades of Friendship Renewed

They flew in from all over the world. Raj from New York, David from Shanghai, Chew from Singapore. Raj had business in Manila but basically, they wanted to meet up with us, their former classmates in grad school at Philly.

Greg, Raj, Chew, David, me and Zsa Zsa

 

Greg texted me early this morning asking me to join him and wife Zsa Zsa at Manila Pen to meet 3 of our former Philly school mates with whom we had 2 years of unforgettable experiences.

I was eager to go but some work kept me busy till past 3 PM. As soon as that was out of the way, I called Greg and he said yes, come over since they were all still talking at the lobby. Hubby drove me there, accompanied by C2 and M1. They went off to kill time at nearby Ayala Center.

These guys have not changed! Chew, with Russel Reynolds Associates (a headhunter company), could still talk up a storm! Chew was especially close to me and my Pinay roommate (actually…closer to her, if you know what I mean). But whenever he was around, Chew would regale us with all sorts of stories. He had a wide range of discussion topics, from the inane to the cerebral. Humor was aplenty. And his calligraphic talents somehow influenced me to begin writing poetry using a real calligraphy pen.

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A Lunch Reunion That Took 20 Years

Yesterday, I took off from my usual lunch-at-the-office routine to walk over to Grappas, an Italian resto in Greenbelt 3. The occasion? A 20-year-some reunion with Nookie Ira, a dear friend from school days in the States.

It’s funny how you suddenly realize how many years have gone by and yet when you meet up again, the camaraderie of old comes rushing back and those years seem to just fold up into nothingness and you are joking and talking like old times.

When I took my grad studies in Philadelphia (Philly, for short), there were about a dozen Filipinos in our batch. The batch a year ahead of us also had about the same number of Pinoys. We had cookouts, dinner parties, outings to other states, and we formed friendships that held even as we graduated, got married, had families and went off on different career paths in different countries. A handful of those Pinoys in both batches eventually joined government under different administrations and ended up with Cabinet positions. Imagine that!

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The Boon and Bane of a Back-To-Work Mom

After a LONG hiatus from work, an opportunity cropped up to join a company as a consultant. It is just my second day back at work but already, the boons and banes of coming out of hibernation and rejoining the work force are so stark.

Here are a few:

(-) Good-bye, beauty sleep. My wakeup call of 9:30 or 10AM is now down to 7 or 8AM

(+/-) Denims and casual tops are out. The “corporate look” is in (high heels, dark skirt or pants, more formal blouses, blazer when necessary. Is that a good thing or not? I don’t know. I love the freedom of denims but feel good in business attire.

(+) I sweated it out at home trying to conserve energy and wore the thinnest, sleeveless tops I had. Now, the aircon blasting in the office reminds me I need to buy more blazers!

(-) Much, much less blogging! 🙁

(+) Lunch used to be whatever was left over from dinner the night before. Now, I have a choice of Oliver’s Super Sandwich or the various food outlets at the swanky Food Park of the building. And hey, they have Starbucks, Tea Republic, and Watson’s there to boot!

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